Operation -- Annihilate! (episode)
The Deneva colony is attacked by neural parasites that cause mass insanity while the crew of Enterprise search for a way to stop them. Summary The [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|USS Enterprise]] approaches Deneva. Captain Kirk is concerned; Uhura has been unable to contact any transmitter on the planet. Spock's research has revealed that a pattern of mass insanity has been spreading in a straight line through this part of the galaxy, and Deneva is next. Sulu picks up a ship on sensors. The small craft is on course directly for the Denevan star, and does not appear to be out of control. Kirk orders a warp 8 interception course. The ship is out of range of the tractor beam; the Enterprise pursues. Finally, they make contact: seconds before the ship burns up, the pilot cries out "I did it! It's finally gone! I'm free!!". Kirk forms a landing party consisting of him, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Yeoman Zahra and Bobby. Once on the planet, they are struck by the curious lack of people; in a city of 100,000 people, no one is visible – until, a few minutes later, they are attacked by four men who, even as they charge, scream "Go away! We don't want to hurt you!" But, with their crude clubs, they try anyway, forcing the landing party to stun them, an attitude inconsistent with thier actions. Then McCoy discovers that the unconscious mens' nervous systems are violently active – as if they're somehow still being stimulated. A scream draws them next to Kirk's brother's lab. Captain Kirk's brother, Sam, lies dead on the floor. Aurelan, Sam's wife, is hysterical, and their child Peter is unconscious nearby. Evidence suggests something has been trying to force its way in, despite the fact that the sensors showed nothing on Deneva that didn't belong there. Aurelan, in terrible pain, tells Kirk that "things" came, eight months ago, on a ship from Ingraham B. As she tries to answer Kirk's questions, she experiences more and more pain, until McCoy is forced to sedate her. The creatures use the Denevans as their arms and legs, and are forcing them to build ships. They control their hosts with pain. Aurelan's last act is to implore Kirk not to let the things go any further; this effort costs her everything she has left, and she dies. Kirk rejoins the landing party; he knows there is some sort of creature present, but the landing party has not yet discovered anything beyond a curious buzzing. Entering a building where they heard this sound, the landing party discovers strange creatures. Looking like little more than loathsome blobs of jelly, they emit an unwholesome buzzing, and employ a crude, wingless flight. A phaser at force 3 – sufficient to destroy most organisms – barely affects these creatures, even after several seconds of exposure. And the creatures do not register on Spock's tricorder. Kirk orders the landing party out of the infested area; as they leave, a creature strikes Spock, leaving a strange puncture wound. McCoy removes a small strand of tissue, and then, over Nurse Chapel's objections, he closes the wound. The creatures attack by stinging; they leave behind a piece of this tissue that rapidly infiltrates the victim's entire nervous system, far too completely for conventional surgery to remove it. Spock recovers consciousness, charges out of sickbay and storms the bridge. His goal: to take the ship out of orbit. Spock is ultimately overcome and returned to sickbay, where McCoy makes another grim discovery. The K3 indicator, a measure of pain, is very, very high. The reason for the madness is confirmed: victims are in such agony that their minds eventually break under the stress. Spock, recovering consciousness, now claims the ability to control the pain. But after his visit to the bridge, Kirk isn't sure. Spock, conquering the pain, breaks out of sickbay and plans to visit the planet's surface. Scotty, acting on Kirk's orders, refuses to transport him. A scuffle breaks out, and when Kirk appears, Spock explains that his plan is to retrieve a creature for study. He believes that since his nervous system is already infiltrated, there is little more the creatures can do to him. Kirk is convinced, and over McCoy's objections Spock beams down to collect a creature for study. Spock returns with a creature and begins to study it. Immediately, he realizes that the creature resembles, more than anything, an enormous brain cell. Kirk catches on immediately: these creatures aren't separate animals, they're all parts of a single entity, connected in some mysterious fashion. This is how it resists phaser fire: each part draws strength from the whole. McCoy's efforts to find some method to kill the creatures fail. Not heat, not radiation - nothing kills it. Kirk knows that if they can't find a way to kill these creatures, he will be forced to destroy Deneva to prevent their spread. A million people will die if nothing can be done. Kirk cannot let the creatures spread, and has no wish to kill the Denevans, including his nephew. He demands a third alternative. The key lies in exploring the properties of the sun. The Denevan was free of the creature moments before he died; something in the sun killed it. It's not radiation, it's not heat – could it be light? Kirk thinks it is. McCoy rigs a test cubicle, puts the sample creature inside, and confirms the theory: high intensity light is fatal to these creatures. Spock enters next; it's necessary to see what will happen to tissue that has infiltrated a victim. Spock volunteers to enter the cubicle. This test, too, succeeds: the blinding light frees Spock of the creature and the pain – at the cost of his eyesight. Spock, exiting the cubical, remarks that it is an equitable trade – the closest he comes to revealing how much pain he has been experiencing. And then the true tragedy is revealed: lab tests indicate that the creatures are vulnerable only to a specific subset of the light spectrum: ultraviolet light is its Achilles heel. McCoy is chagrined to realize that Spock need not have been blinded at all. Despite this, the answer is at hand. Kirk orders satellite control to deploy a formation of 210 ultraviolet satellites at 72 miles altitude, in a permanent orbit. The satellites are turned on; the creatures begin to fail, to fall, to smoke and to die. Ground stations on Deneva quickly make contact; the creatures are dying everywhere. Spock returns to the bridge; he can once again see. It seems that an inner eyelid, an hereditary trait of Vulcans, protected his eyes automatically. Log Entries *''Captain’s log, stardate 3287.2. The mass insanity we have tracked across this section of the galaxy seems to have already touched Deneva. That planet, colonized over a century ago, is one of the most beautiful in the galaxy. '' *''Captain’s log, supplemental. Whatever the creatures are, they have apparently taken over all the inhabitants of Deneva. Meanwhile, ship's surgeon Dr McCoy is examining a strange puncture wound left by one of the creatures on Mr Spock's back. '' *''Captain’s log, stardate 3289.8. I am faced with the most difficult decision of my life, unless we find a way to destroy the creatures without killing their human hosts, my command responsibilities will force me to kill over a million people. '' Memorable Quotes "And don't give me any damnable logic about him being the only man for the job." "I don't have to, Bones. We both know he is." :- McCoy, Kirk "I said, please don't tell Spock I said he was the best first officer in the fleet." "Why, thank you, doctor." "You were so worried about his Vulcan eyes you forgot about his Vulcan ears." :- McCoy, Spock, Kirk Background Information * This was the last episode of the first season of TOS. * The call sign for Sam Kirk's private transmitter was GSK-783 (subspace frequency 3). * The 1989 movie Star Trek V: The Final Frontier angered some Trek fans when Kirk, toward the end of the film, states: "I lost a brother once. But I got him back." This was an obvious nod to Spock, not to Sam, and some fans felt Shatner didn't even remember the storyline of the series (Shatner directed and co-wrote the story for STV). Still, others argued that Kirk was simply referencing the fact that Spock was indeed one of his 'two' brothers, and it was Spock who was 'resurrected.' Nevertheless, some fans believe that it may have been more appropriate if, in the film, he said something to the effect of "I lost both my brothers. But one I got back." * On the other hand, in "Whom Gods Destroy," Kirk clearly says that he and Mr. Spock are brothers—and Spock agrees with him. * A filmed scene cut from this episode featured dialogue between Kirk and his nephew. The boy was seated in the captain's chair, discussing his coming return to Earth to live with relatives. A small Starfleet uniform was made for Craig Hundley for this scene, which unfortunately ended up on the editing room floor (the film, not the uniform). * This episode features the Enterprise not only going to warp 8 while in a star system, but on a course directly for the system's sun. * It is mentioned that there are 14 science labs aboard Enterprise. * The Vulcan inner eyelid is mentioned again in ENT: "The Forge". * Deneva, as seen from space, is one of the most beautiful planets Westheimer Effects Company created for the original series, only appearing in this gorgeous color scheme in this episode. This planet is reused countless times in the second and third seasons, usually for Earth-like planets (like Capella IV, Ekos or 892-IV). Also, two color-enhanced versions of this planet appears in TOS: a reddish one (also in the second/third season opening credits and as planet Vulcan) and a purple one (Halkan planet, Omega IV, etc.). * The starmap showing the progression of the space madness also shows up on station viewscreens in future episodes. * Stock footage of Mr. Leslie's hands from "The Alternative Factor" is used to represent the personnel in the satellite control room. * It's a bit illogical that Kirk gets so angry at McCoy for Spock's blindness. It was Kirk, after all, who was pushing for an immediate test to drive the creature from Spock's body. * William Blackburn, an extra on the show from "The Corbomite Maneuver" through the end of season three, can be seen in the background in at least three different uniforms in this show. * Wah Chang designed and constructed the parasite creatures. * This is the first time McCoy's lab is seen. Different components of sickbay were added over the first season, such as the decompression chamber seen in "Space Seed." McCoy's lab contains one of the life-support canisters used on the Botany Bay. * The fly-by of the ship that opens this episode will only be seen one other time. It is re-used in "The Tholian Web" as the ship is thrown clear of the Tholian force field. No stars are used in that view, of course. * William Shatner "played" the body of his dead brother. * Light and heat are forms of radiation. There is a little contradiction in saying that radiation did not affect the neural parasites. *A VHS edition of this episode is available through Amazon under ISBN 6300213331. Production Timeline * First draft script, "Operation: Destroy!": 19 January 1967 * Final draft script: 24 January 1967 * Revised final draft: 3 February 1967 * Second revised final draft: 13 February 1967 * This episode was filmed in mid-February at TRW's futuristic headquarters in California. Links and References Main Cast * William Shatner as ** James T. Kirk ** George Samuel Kirk (uncredited) * Leonard Nimoy as Spock * DeForest Kelley as McCoy * James Doohan as Scott * George Takei as Sulu * Nichelle Nichols as Uhura * Majel Barrett as Christine Chapel Guest Stars * Joan Swift as Aurelan Kirk * Craig Hundley as Peter Kirk * Dave Armstrong as Kartan * Maurishka Taliaferro as Zahra * Eddie Paskey as Leslie * Fred Carson as a Denevan #1 * Jerry Catron as a Denevan #2 * Unknown actor as Bobby (uncredited) * Gary Coombs as James Kirk (stunt double) * Bill Catching as Spock (stunt double) * William Blackburn as Hadley (uncredited) References 2265; Beta Portolan; Beta Portolan system; Deneva; Deneva colony; Deneva system; gravimetric pull; Ingraham B; inner eyelid; K3 indicator; Levinius V; neural parasite (TOS); Starbase 10; subspace transmitter; Theta Cygni XII; trimagnesite; tritium; ultraviolet satellite; Vulcans Category:TOS episodes de:Spock außer Kontrolle fr:Operation -- Annihilate! nl:Operation -- Annihilate!